BGM advice please - confused newbie!

DaveB said:
The default low reading alarm is set at 3.6 mmol by Abbott. 4.5 is too high and the nurse should know that and that's why the alarm is going off so often. I would set it lower?
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Sorry it is set at 3.7mmol not 3.6mmol
 
Inka said:
If you’re getting compression lows, be mindful of how you’re sleeping. This sounds a pain but you’ll soon train yourself to avoid your Libre arm. You can also put your hand under your Libre arm if you need to sleep on that side, which just lifts it off the bed far enough to avoid compression lows.
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Or, the put your next sensor in a slightly different place.
I am in awe of people who can control how they sleep. I move around in my sleep and could end up on either side.
I found while I lie on my arm, i do not lie on the higher part of my arm. Therefore, I try to place my sensor as far back as I can comfortably reach and as high as the fatty area goes. This is usually close to my arm pit.
With ally night time fidgeting, I do not lie on my arm pit so my sensor is safe.
 
DaveB said:
The default low reading alarm is set at 3.6 mmol by Abbott. 4.5 is too high and the nurse should know that and that's why the alarm is going off so often. I would set it lower?
Click to expand...

Sensible nurse if you ask me.

If you were to leave it set at 3.6 then you could be in a load of trouble by then taking into consideration lag in time of libre device.

My cgm low larm is set at 4.8 as like to be forwarned if bg is heading really low, trend arrows on Dexcom Libre helps point you to where your bg is heading so to take action or not.
 
DaveB said:
The default low reading alarm is set at 3.6 mmol by Abbott. 4.5 is too high and the nurse should know that and that's why the alarm is going off so often. I would set it lower?
Click to expand...
Depends why you have an alarm.
Many people use their alarm to avoid hypos rather than tell them they are hypo which is too late.
And most false lows are compression lows. So, if you adjust your body in your sleep or the position of your next sensor to minimise the chance of lying on it, you only get alarms when you need to treat a "predicted" hypo.

Reducing the alarm level to reduce alarms is effectively "closing the gate after the horse has bolted".
 
helli said:
Or, the put your next sensor in a slightly different place.
I am in awe of people who can control how they sleep. I move around in my sleep and could end up on either side.
I found while I lie on my arm, i do not lie on the higher part of my arm. Therefore, I try to place my sensor as far back as I can comfortably reach and as high as the fatty area goes. This is usually close to my arm pit.
With ally night time fidgeting, I do not lie on my arm pit so my sensor is safe.
Click to expand...
I will try higher next time and see if that works, i’m a side sleeper and tend to favour the side the sensor is on this time
I’m what the healthcares in hosi called a wrigglebum lol… i’m never still while I sleep lol
 
It’s subconscious, I think @helli I move and turn a lot during the night but I automatically allow for my sensor, just like I allow for the edge of the bed. I put my hand just above my elbow when I lay on the sensor side and that kind of lifts the sensor away from the mattress slightly. Probably a poor description but I believe @rebrascora does similar.
 
As a T3c, @JJB70, it is very possible you will have what is often described as brittle diabetic behaviour. This means that change is very rapid both when low and high.

I have no pancreas whatsoever and sometimes plummet from 5.5 to 3.5. In my 1st 12 months I had no CGM so was unaware of how quickly I could drop. But even subsequently with my then Libre 2 at its top low limit of 5.6 I sometimes reached the 3s before I could react to that seemingly amply high alarm setting. Now with Dexcom G7 the upper low limit is 8.5 (rather than Libre's 5.6) - and 8.5 is more than even I need. But I use 6.0 as my low "alert" limit. Note I deliberately use this as an "alert" and not an alarm. Sometimes hypos are almost unavoidable, but by accepting and reacting appropriately to low "alerts" most hypos can be caught in a timely manner. Also if a low alert limit is too low, it not only fails to warn you that you are heading towards hypo rather than telling you that you are already hypo, but can result in a degradation of your own natural hypo warning signals.

There is good reason why the Internationally accepted Time in Range (TIR) parameters are only 4% for low (ie below 4mmol/L) yet up to 25% high. Going hypo is bad for you particularly affecting one's cognitive decline and those neurological consequences accumulate rather than dissipating with time. I know I'm at risk of getting dementia, both my parents exemplified this.

And yes, @JBB70, if there is any possibility of having a Libre Reader as well as the app on your phone I would strongly encourage you to get that. When Libre stops communicating with your phone, for whatever reason, the basic hand held Reader is a terrific bonus. Unfortunately (unless Abbott have corrected this technical detail in recent months), you must activate the Reader first. Dexcom don't cause this extra difficulty; their hand held Receivers act independently of the phone app so provide a more effective form of belt and braces.

Apart from this thread and your questions about consistency of readings: how are you getting on in general? Any idea yet when you will lose your NJ tube? Or any sign of an appropriate PERT such as Creon?
 
JBB70 said:
think my DSN is ordering me a libre reader because I was given libre keytone strips.
Does this do normal FP tests too?
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The Libre reader can be used to test both BG and Ketones. The ketone test strips for these are a lot more expensive than others, so my GP was reluctant to provide them. We came to the agreement that I would use urine test strips for ketones, unless I felt very unwell.

For BG I have another test kit. When I was on injections I had 250 test strips provided at a time, and then just reordered as necessary, but that was before sensors. I now have 50 at a time.
 
Proud to be erratic said:
As a T3c, @JJB70, it is very possible you will have what is often described as brittle diabetic behaviour. This means that change is very rapid both when low and high.

I have no pancreas whatsoever and sometimes plummet from 5.5 to 3.5. In my 1st 12 months I had no CGM so was unaware of how quickly I could drop. But even subsequently with my then Libre 2 at its top low limit of 5.6 I sometimes reached the 3s before I could react to that seemingly amply high alarm setting. Now with Dexcom G7 the upper low limit is 8.5 (rather than Libre's 5.6) - and 8.5 is more than even I need. But I use 6.0 as my low "alert" limit. Note I deliberately use this as an "alert" and not an alarm. Sometimes hypos are almost unavoidable, but by accepting and reacting appropriately to low "alerts" most hypos can be caught in a timely manner. Also if a low alert limit is too low, it not only fails to warn you that you are heading towards hypo rather than telling you that you are already hypo, but can result in a degradation of your own natural hypo warning signals.

There is good reason why the Internationally accepted Time in Range (TIR) parameters are only 4% for low (ie below 4mmol/L) yet up to 25% high. Going hypo is bad for you particularly affecting one's cognitive decline and those neurological consequences accumulate rather than dissipating with time. I know I'm at risk of getting dementia, both my parents exemplified this.

And yes, @JBB70, if there is any possibility of having a Libre Reader as well as the app on your phone I would strongly encourage you to get that. When Libre stops communicating with your phone, for whatever reason, the basic hand held Reader is a terrific bonus. Unfortunately (unless Abbott have corrected this technical detail in recent months), you must activate the Reader first. Dexcom don't cause this extra difficulty; their hand held Receivers act independently of the phone app so provide a more effective form of belt and braces.

Apart from this thread and your questions about consistency of readings: how are you getting on in general? Any idea yet when you will lose your NJ tube? Or any sign of an appropriate PERT such as Creon?
Click to expand...
Thank you, i sometimes think i’m over reacting as a newbie, and sleep is a very important of my recovery and was the main reason I asked to be discharged.
My sleep pattern isn’t good though at the moment.

No news on any PERT yet, thr phsrmacist in my GP was going to put me forward for referral on Wednesday but I haven’t heard anything from them yet,

The NJ is still here, and my nose and the roof of my mouth are really sore at the moment. I had to go to CHOC last night because I have what I thought was a water infection. I’m symptomatic, but it didn’t show up in the test. The doctor gave me a 3 day coursr pf antibiotics to err on the side of caution with my recent history.

I have also had a niggles with my gallstones the last few nights, which I also mentioned, along with the doctor in hospital telling me that any flare ups could be life threatening, but she wasn’t interested in that because there was nothing she could do about that!!

Still waiting to hear from the specialist about the tube and the gallstone op, and when I tried to chase it up was told I was on the list and had to wait.
I’m going to call again tomorrow and make it a weekly thing until they get sick of me I think!

Other than that, plodding on, very tired, and wishing it was all just a bad dream!

Hope you are well, and thank you for asking x
 
JBB70 said:
Thank you, i sometimes think i’m over reacting as a newbie, and sleep is a very important of my recovery and was the main reason I asked to be discharged.
My sleep pattern isn’t good though at the moment.

No news on any PERT yet, thr phsrmacist in my GP was going to put me forward for referral on Wednesday but I haven’t heard anything from them yet,

The NJ is still here, and my nose and the roof of my mouth are really sore at the moment. I had to go to CHOC last night because I have what I thought was a water infection. I’m symptomatic, but it didn’t show up in the test. The doctor gave me a 3 day coursr pf antibiotics to err on the side of caution with my recent history.

I have also had a niggles with my gallstones the last few nights, which I also mentioned, along with the doctor in hospital telling me that any flare ups could be life threatening, but she wasn’t interested in that because there was nothing she could do about that!!

Still waiting to hear from the specialist about the tube and the gallstone op, and when I tried to chase it up was told I was on the list and had to wait.
I’m going to call again tomorrow and make it a weekly thing until they get sick of me I think!

Other than that, plodding on, very tired, and wishing it was all just a bad dream!

Hope you are well, and thank you for asking x
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Obviously as you already have other issues so it may not be that straightforward but my daughter had he gall bladder removed by keyhole surgery in and out on the same day and very good recovery, she did a 60 mile cycle ride 1 month afterwards.
 
Leadinglights said:
Obviously as you already have other issues so it may not be that straightforward but my daughter had he gall bladder removed by keyhole surgery in and out on the same day and very good recovery, she did a 60 mile cycle ride 1 month afterwards.
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Yes, while I was in hospital one of fhe patients went and had keyhole and was up and walking the next day and headed home.

Hopefully mine will be soon, because I am worried about flare ups now.
The ones I have had this week have been mild and controllable, but historically that is leading up to a biggie!
Fingers crossed i’m wrong, but I will be mentioning that when I ring to chase my appointment.
 
@JBB70 if you do want to check your Nexus meter, you don't need to wait until Monday to call them. You can order control solution (and spare batteries) completely free from their website Free Control Solution - I don't test weekly but I do like to test a strip for each new tub of strips (it's the nurse in me, I like to follow protocol :rofl: ). IME they usually post it within 2 days and it's with you within a week.
 
42istheanswer said:
@JBB70 if you do want to check your Nexus meter, you don't need to wait until Monday to call them. You can order control solution (and spare batteries) completely free from their website Free Control Solution - I don't test weekly but I do like to test a strip for each new tub of strips (it's the nurse in me, I like to follow protocol :rofl: ). IME they usually post it within 2 days and it's with you within a week.
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Oh thank you, I have ordered some.
 
42istheanswer said:
@JBB70 if you do want to check your Nexus meter, you don't need to wait until Monday to call them. You can order control solution (and spare batteries) completely free from their website Free Control Solution - I don't test weekly but I do like to test a strip for each new tub of strips (it's the nurse in me, I like to follow protocol :rofl: ). IME they usually post it within 2 days and it's with you within a week.
Click to expand...
Well that was great service

Ordered Sunday night and arrived in the normal mail this morning
Monitor now checked and working fine
 
JBB70 said:
Well that was great service

Ordered Sunday night and arrived in the normal mail this morning
Monitor now checked and working fine
Click to expand...

Good to hear @JBB70 🙂
 
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